This really pisses me off:
Former Tour winner Ullrich criticises race
Winner of the 1997 Tour de France, German Jan Ullrich, has criticised the Tour de France for lacking the grandeur of past.
“I don’t think that the Tour can still be defined as the greatest race in the world,” said 34 year-old Ullrich according to Agr. “It is not how it was once before. Before there were the best riders starting as favourites, but there were always the possibilities of surprises.”
Ullrich retired from racing at the end of 2007 in the heat of allegations that he was linked with Eufemiano Fuentes and Operación Puerto.
From Cyclingnews
Every year I think that I won’t watch the Tour or follow any of the European races. Every year there is niggling innuendo, well-supported allegation and outright scandal following many of the riders. Doping cases stretch on and on, so just when you think you can start to feel the excitement as another Tour approaches, the “winner” from two years ago is in the news again after another failed appeal.
Still, as the race gets closer, I can’t help but put some extra sleeping hours in to try to cover three weeks of sleep deficit. I am excited that Cadel Evans will be riding with the number 1. I’m hoping that Robbie McEwan will still manage to get in amongst it at the sprint finishes, even though his team will be riding for Cadel. I’m confident that there will be at least one surprise stage win, a breath-taking breakaway, a heart-stopping crash.
So, just SHUT UP, Jan Ullrich. You’re done.
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Also, Cyclingnews, is there a definition of favourite I’m not familiar with? On Monday, Evans was “tour favourite”. Today, Valverde is not afraid to be “tour favourite”. Is one of these favourite in the evening wear competition and the other in the swimsuit category? Just wondering, ‘cos I thought they would both be in the running for the yellow jersey…
